Disarmament Conference: Morocco Calls for Constructive Dialogue to Overcome Differences

The Ambassador Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office and International Organizations in Geneva, Omar Zniber, underlined, on Tuesday, the Kingdom’s commitment to a dialogue constructive in order to overcome differences within the framework of the discussions at the Conference on Disarmament. “The landscape of international security, as it presents itself today, should require us to engage in a constructive and rigorous dialogue to overcome our differences, by engaging in a continuous exchange, putting aside the political calculations that prevent us from moving forward on the substance of the themes included in the work programme,” said Mr. Zniber at the opening of the 2022 Disarmament Conference held under the presidency of China. The ambassador noted, in this regard, that the Conference on Disarmament remains an unavoidable and indispensable body for carrying out the most ardent wishes of the international community, that is to say the fight against the accumulation of arms to strengthen peace and security in the world. He also pointed out that the current context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to the multiplication and deepening of humanitarian crises in several regions, noting that these humanitarian crises are already accentuated by the climate of instability imposed by conflicts and threats to international peace and security. “Indeed, if the Conference on Disarmament managed to overcome these blockages, which is what we have been working on for many years, it could contribute to drawing the outlines of the agreements that we could establish in the short and medium terms to reduce tensions and confront the looming enormous challenges, in particular the dual nature of high technologies and the supposed or real perceptions of threats in terms of security,” he underlined. Based on this observation, it is essential, he said, that this year “we can achieve the adoption of a balanced work program adapted to the need to negotiate openly and transparently the essential issues of nuclear disarmament, fissile materials, the protection of outer space, the arms race and any other issues we deem appropriate to address.” Unfortunately, the diplomat pointed out, the Covid-19 pandemic has imposed a notorious slowdown in all the major meetings which were to be held, apart from the Conference on Disarmament, during the past two years, including the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons  The Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite its imperfections, is a multilateral, binding and most advanced legal instrument, he added. “It is so because of its universality, its globality and its uniqueness. It is the only guarantee that the world will eventually get rid of the threat of nuclear weapons, and their persistence,” he said. Zniber also reiterated Morocco’s unwavering commitment to expanding the composition of this body to include new members who are actively engaged in the debates related to the themes examined within the Conference. Pending the achievement of this objective, Morocco strongly encourages the acceptance of requests for participation from observer members, which contribute to enriching and diversifying the discussions, he said. “It is in the interest of the multilateral global disarmament architecture to strengthen our body and its activities by reviving its initial mandate and negotiating binding multilateral treaties,” he added.